From the Random File

From time to time I have a few things to share that don't really fit in to any particular theme. Since it really upsets my illusion of order and control to write random posts they often remain unshown. 

Today I'm busting out and putting them all in this completely themeless post. I just hope my head doesn't explode from breaking one of my own self imposed blogging rules. 

Spring has sprung here (finally).  I managed to coddle my bulbs through winter and have the most glorious display of tulips and hyacinths to show for my efforts. Little P was very excited to finally see the flowers we planted in Autumn, and took some home to give to his other Nanna. 

I achieved baking greatness on Tuesday (after a full day at work no less)  I did have moment of madness thinking I could give up work and become a cupcake queen. 

Showcasing a quilt my Mum has just finished. It's been sitting in her WIP pile for a while but the end result is stunning!

I had a birthday on the weekend and Little P gave me this bonsai as a present. Now I just have to become a bonsai master to keep it alive.

Saw this at the local greengrocer on Sunday.

Left it on the shelf because I'm not partial to anything made from ass. 

Mish Mash

With our departure drawing closer, I've been working long hours so I can go on holidays from work with a clear conscience. Not much else that's blogworthy has been going on here unless you count the batch of cakes I made that I forgot to put eggs in (they were like little rocks and tasted very strange) or the fact we've been living on takeaway for about a week. 

Mordecai is firmly ensconced back in usual life after his near death experience. My credit card is not so much dented as completely smashed into tiny pieces. But it's nice to have a happy (breathing)cat.

He is minus a lot of fur , and all the neighbourhood cats are taking the piss out of him. I told him to tell them this is the "half poodle" cut and it's very chic right now. 

While I'm bitching and moaning about how poverty stricken I am I'd like to show something I ordered before the cat decided to suck the life out of my credit card. I haven't bought shoes in weeks so I went on a bender.

There are actually two of each shoe but I was trying to be arty with my photography. I Love Billy is my absolute favourite brand of shoes and since I bought three pairs on sale for the price of one it would have almost been sacrilege not to buy them.

I've done a bit of sewing lately but it doesn't feel like a huge amount of progress is being made. I've pressed all the bits for this quilt that is making it's debut appearance on my blog. I stupidly announced to Little Miss Sunshine that I was  aiming to have this top together before we went away and once I have an idea out there I find it hard to change it so watch this space.

And I finally sucked it up and basted Flurry yesterday because it's been sitting here mocking me for about a year now. 

I was assisted by my helper , Little P who has obviously been watching me baste quilts for so long that he knows how it's done without instruction or prompting. And yes- he did it in his pyjamas. I'm so proud. 

The plan for today is to quilt that darn thing. I'm already plotting about how little quilting it really needs to remain stuck together! If you hear crying- that will be me. 

P.S. 9 sleeps!

Look at me , Look at me !

That post title was to suck you all in. I haven't really been doing all that much ...

I'm starting to worry . The Spotlight catalogue arrived last week and I couldnt find a single thing in it I had to rush down and buy.  Then Sara sent me a 10 dollar voucher and I went to Spotlight and still couldn't find anything to blow my free money on. Ladies and Gentlemen, I've become impervious to fabric. It's as if I've been taken over by aliens whose sole purpose is to deny me the pleasure of the usual rush I get when I see bolts of material all stacked and looking pretty.

I'm noticing Blogland is pretty quiet lately. For us Southern Hemisphere people Im guessing we're all practising storing our nuts and hibernating for the impending winter. For you Northern folk , I'm pretty sure you've forsaken the rest of us to enjoy sun and we wont hear from you again until about Thanksgiving.  I seem to recall a conversation I had with all of you about two years ago where I carefully explained that I need to be entertained during the colder Aussie months and that Summer was cancelled for anyone lucky enough to be having sun when I wasn't.

I have decreed April is going to be my big finish month. Really.  With the Easter break and another public holiday this month surely I should be able to pull a couple of rabbits out of a hat and knock off some lurking projects.And because I'm starting April as I mean to finish this is what I knocked off that list on Monday.

 The back - a vintage unused sheet that I've been dying to use forever.

Ta da ! My first finished hexie project.

Simple quilting but it looks so pretty! 

That means I can link up to Elizabeth's monthly finishes linky party. Finally! I've been saying I was going to  since January!

Two more hexie flowers have  magically appeared since the last time I showed some of those off. Then I ran out of already glued ones and spent some time gluing up some more. And then I spent some time un-gluing myself from the lounge , the box I keep them in and finally myself.

In other news Mr. P and I flipped our mattress yesterday. Last time we did that was... never. We've had the mattress for about 8 years so obviously we don't like to rush big decisions.

I continue to be oven-less in Adelaide.  Apparently an element is a big ask. I didnt realise how much I use my oven until I didnt have one. I'm consoling myself with the thought that I'm saving lives by not baking and forcing others to eat the results.

And to show Im not a complete slackarse , my Easter gifts for the girls at work are done and have already been handed out.

Pyjamas out !

Mail Call

I really must try to get to the post office more often but since Australia Post work actual business hours and since (mostly ) I do too , that means getting into my local PO is a real pain some days.  At the moment having the postie drop my parcels off at my front door would be a real time saver for me. As it is,  I often don't get to the post office for a week or more at a time. (The whiny , pity party part of this post is now officially over )

Monday marked about 10 days since my last PO foray and my postage dude had a plethora of parcels and mail for me. He likes to guess what's in each parcel before he forks them over. It's become a ritual.  

From the wonderful Susan at Canadian Abroad.

A closer look at her stiffy snowflakes (sorry that's an in joke ) Aren't they gorgeous ? I have coveted these from the very first second I saw them weeks ago and now I own some!

I adore hand made ornaments and these look gorgeous on my tree. 

And from the delectable Sara over at Lone Sock Productions who knows about my fondness for all things Babushka. 

My own little gym bag (that will never see the inside of a gym ) Hopefully the bag will be appeased if I drive past one occasionally. 

This is what vacuum packed selvages look like when you unpack them. A mountain of selvages. 

After these two parcels I'm officially in selvage heaven. A BIG thank you to Susan, Sara, Thea, Char, Michelle, P, and Kat  who kindly donated their selvages to my cause. I'm going to get cracking on that quilt while I'm on holidays. I cant wait !

And finally but not least -From Becks over at Sarcastic Quilter. Quilting Software so I can get creative while still sitting on my patootie. This may help me avoid future design disasters. 

Thank you ladies. You made my week. 

I now haven't officially cooked dinner for 7 days. Some one call the Guinness book of world records. I'm in the running for the title of slackest person on the planet.  Work is totally kicking my butt at the moment and I just don't have the reserves to cook when I get home. I'll be back on Friday (hopefully with my sanity intact -sort of ) for the final FTF for 2011. Hope to see you all there ! 

A Post for Patty

My Mum called me yesterday to comment about my lack of quality posts of late. Apparently I've been boring the pants off my own Mum with my repetitive sewing posts. So this newsy post is especially for Mother of Pyjamas so she can see I do things other than sew. 

On Friday night I dragged my sorry bum home from a week at work around 5.30pm and had my pyjamas on by 5.35 pm. When Mr.  P arrived home I told him I had no intention of cooking dinner in 95 degree heat and sent him out on an important mission to bring me back a triple cheeseburger. He also had strict instructions to check the burger before he left Macca's because they already ripped me off once this week by giving me a double instead of a triple. I was too lazy to go back the first time because 1 patty of mystery meat really isn't worth my time. Yeah- I ate McDonald's twice this week. We also got chicken takeaway for tea another night, and I was out for dinner Tuesday. I'm planning to snatch the crown of Queen of Not Cooking from my sister. 

Mr. P came back with the last instalment of Harry Potter on DVD and my maccas and I subsequently discovered that the Hamburgler had stolen one of my three meat patties again. Either that or Ronald McDonald has decided four bits of pickle  (which I don't eat ) = 1 meat patty. Seriously you can count to three using your fingers. You don't have to have a maths degree. How hard can it be to get it right?

Saturday morning I woke at sparrow fart (that's Aussie for before dawn)  and full of good intentions. By the time my Mum called  at 2.30 pm I was still in my pyjamas and I hadn't achieved a damn thing for the day besides commenting on 30 blog posts,  harassing Indy and Lola , and  laying in bed playing with my I pad. I kidded myself that I was productive by putting on two loads of washing while I listened to Mr. P scrub the bathroom and deciding my help would hinder his progress. 

By 3.30 I was sick of myself and dragged myself out shopping. I saw these cute glass birds in the window of this shop  when I was out for dinner on Tuesday and had to go back and get them. The lady looked quite taken aback when I said I'd take every single one they had. For a moment I thought she was going to refuse but she must have seen the murderous glint in my eye because she went and wrapped them up in tissue paper without further comment. FYI - I bought 7.

And while I was there I spied this felted handmade chicken basket from Nepal and had to buy that too. 

I did some Christmas shopping for Little P. Every little boy wants a pirate puppet and who doesn't love Shaun the Sheep?

Then I came home with the brilliant idea of making a quilt cover for our bed which meant I had to drag my fabric out and throw it all over the floor to see what it might look like if I ever find the time (and motivation) to work on something for longer than 10 minutes again.  I'm still thinking about it. And the fabric is still on the floor. 

Last night  Mr. P and I went to see a movie (In Time with Justin Timberlake - very good actually!) and then when we got home I started some pyjamas for Miss P . I lost interest after one leg. I think pressing in those pleats took it out of me.  So she's either going to have to wait until I feel like doing the other leg or walk round with half her bits hanging out. 

We had some of the family round for Sunday breakfast this morning so that meant running round for 30 frenzied minutes from 8.10 - 8.40am  trying to make our house look habitable before everyone arrived. It's amazing what you can achieve in a short time span and how you can make a filthy floor look good with a chux wipe. While everyone was here I sewed some more on my hexie flowers, promised my sister in law a pair of pyjama bottoms and waxed lyrical about how fabulous my I pad is. 

After everyone left we went and did some more Christmas shopping...which I cant show you because Miss P and my sister and other nameless people do sneak in  here every so often to see if they're being mentioned.  So I'll just show you what I bought for myself. 

I had three spare inches of hanging space in my wardrobe that is now filled and I feel complete.

I spent the afternoon wrestling with socks while watching a DVD but since this post is already way too long and I have visions of everyone falling asleep while reading , I'm going to thrill you with that  story in my Tuesday post. I do hope everyone is having a fantastic weekend. Did you know it's only 35 sleeps until Christmas?  Time to panic! 

Bon Voyage !

Today is the big day. I finally finished packing 6 hours ago and I'll be amazed if Im not over the weight limit at the airport.


I'm leaving  Mr. P  to keep the home fires burning with some trepidation, while I wander off to play for 6 days with Little Miss Sunshine.  I am hoping and praying that the "home fires burning " part, is in fact, only metaphorical and that I won't come home to the charred remains of my abode. Let's face it -any time a woman leaves the house for longer than 12 straight hours  it becomes an excuse for a bloke to live the single life, get drunk, eat junk food, and sit around in tatty undies scratching his unmentionables with impunity because basically we wont let them behave like that when we're around. Anything could happen while I'm not here.


I'll be back next week with news of my adventures and I have no doubt, pictures of fabric purchases. Everyone behave while I'm gone !

The Calm After the Storm

I give up. There is no way I can catch up on all the blog posts that have been written in my absence this week. I did try but gave up after commenting on 30 and responding to about 60 emails from my inbox. I know if I haven't commented on one of your posts from this week you'll forgive me. Next time if you could all stop posting when I go AWOL that would be great. Thanks.


Relative peace has descended on Casa Pyjamas again with the exodus of Miss P and Little P. My parents arrive tomorrow. I need one of those revolving hotel doors round here. I could dress Mr. P as a bell hop.

There was a fair bit of sitting in my pyjamas this weekend catching up with what has been going on in the world and stuffing my face with mini Wagon Wheels. And like Pavlov's Dog as soon as I wrote Wagon Wheels I had to go and eat another one. OK, four. I'm safe- I've finished the packet now. But there are 5 packets of Tim Tams in the pantry calling my name. Miss P brought me home a Tim Tam show bag from work last week and I have thus far studiously ignored it. 

I was inspired by Kris's Miss 14 who made these cupcakes a couple of weeks ago. They went on my "I must do that when Little P is here " list. They were a big hit and I'm dreaming of a career in Sesame Street cupcakes as my next alternative job.  Having done them ,  I think I could quite easily pull off Elmo cupcakes too. Oscar the grouch would be do-able too if you could get you icing to look khaki. Sometimes that happens to me when I'm not even trying.  I have no photos of the process since I was supervising Little P who was "helping " me as I made these. If you can kid wrangle, deal with blue icing and manage to put together cupcakes while taking pictures then you are a better woman than I am . 

In fabulous news,  we are a two car household again (yay!)having finally found a new car this week. The price was right and it has wheels so it's all good. Mr. P can stop catching two buses to work.  

I managed to spend time in the sewing room this weekend and worked on multiple projects. A couple of finishes are in the wind over the next couple of weeks.   More on that tomorrow.

Weekend ADD

Sometimes I swear I have undiagnosed ADD. This was in definitely in evidence this weekend where I found it almost impossible to stick to one task for longer than 15 minutes with the exception of gossiping on the phone with a friend. I can do that for hours.  On the positive side being easily distracted  meant I actually made progress on a few things that have been lurking round here making me feel guilty.

I made my first log cabin block ever for Kat's cheeky quilt. If I can find a moment to scratch myself this week to get to the post office this will be winging it's way across the country to become part of a much larger quilt.

I lashed out and made butterfly cakes. They flew straight into my mouth. Bastards.

Flurry saw the light of day for the first time in weeks. (Insert resounding clap here ) I've cut and sewn the border strips. Maybe this week they'll actually get attached. Everyone else is working on their backing so I have some catching up to do.

Tis The Season got a look in as well. These blocks are finished. I'll have a global mexican wave for that achievement thank you.

And these are part way done. Remain seated.

Little P's quilt finally got a label sewn on it.  I was only prompted by the fact he puked on it and it needed washing. That helped me recall I had been avoiding the label sewing for three months. 

I'm baby sitting Little P for a few days this week while Miss P works at the Royal Show so I went shopping and bought a few clothes for him to wear when he visits. I went overboard. I'm going to have to change him three times a day to ensure everything gets worn. I am also insanely contemplating toilet training him while he's here. 

Then I realised I didn't have any bibs to keep those pristine designer clothes clean so I whipped up a few. Last time I did bibs I made 25 at once and got all bibbed out. These came together so quickly I'm re-considering a career in bib making instead of my regular job. I'd only have to make 7587 bibs a year to break even.

It's going to be kid central here this week so if I'm not around much babysitting either killed me or I'm in a corner sobbing uncontrollably because there's pee and poop all over my house.